Method of forming a rolled package of bonded mineral fibers

ABSTRACT

AN INSULATING MATERIAL OF MINERAL FIBERS FORMED IN PART BY SPLITTING A LOW DENSITY CONTINUOUS PACK OF BONDED FIBERS AND APPLYING A FOLDED SPLICE STRIP ALONG TWO ADJACENT EDGES OF THE SPLIT BATT WHICH MAY BE ROLLED UP AT THE POINT OF MANUFACTURE IN SUPERPOSED RELATION, AND MAY BE UNROLLED AND UNFOLDED TO A DOUBLE WIDTH AT THE SITUS OF USE.

J. A. ARDUSER June 1, 1i9 7l :Y METB OD OF FORMING A ROLLED PACKAGE BONDED MINERAL FIBERS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 121', 1967 mvlamon. Q Jo/m/ 4. 420055 8Y5;

. ATTORNEYS June 1., 1971 J. A. ARDUSER 3,582,421

I METHOD OF FORMING A ROLLED PACKAGE OF BONDED MINERAL FIBERS Filed Dec. 21} 1967 2 Sheets-Sheet INVIZNTUR. JOHN A. A/PDUSBQ v ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,582,421 METHOD OF FORMING A ROLLED PACKAGE OF BONDED MINERAL FIBERS John A. Arduser, Anderson, S.C., assignor t0 Owens- Corning Fiberglas Corporation Filed Dec. 21, 1967, Ser. No. 692,462 Int. Cl. B31c 13/00 US. Cl. 156192 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An insulating material of mineral fibers formed in part by splitting a low density continuous pack of bonded fibers and applying a folded splice strip along two adjacent edges of the split batt which may be rolled up at the point of manufacture in superposed relation, and may be unrolled and unfolded to a double width at the situs of use.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION (1) Field of the invention The invention relates to batts of mineral fibers for use primarily as a ceiling and wall structures and to the method of making the same.

(2) Description of the prior art Bonded packs of fibrous glass have been split leaving fiat clean surfaces on both sides of the cut which are employed as the main exterior face of the boards being produced. However, in installations where it is desirous to span rather large zones, the narrower boards or sections of the pack of fibrous material were necessarily spliced or otherwise joined at the situs of installation. Manifestly, this is a timely and thereby costly procedure.

SUMMARY The invention provides a fibrous insulating product which may be satisfactorily manufactured into rolled packages of a width dimension at least half of the width of the finished product. More specifically, the invention contemplates splitting a low density continuous pack of bonded fibers by use of any suitable means such as a band saw which cuts clearly through the light body of fibers and leaves fiat clean surfaces on both sides of the cut. In the event the pack were two inches in thickness, the splitting is preferably accomplished at the center pack to produce two sections each approximately one inch in thickness. The two sections are then separated and a folded splicing paper is inserted between two adjacent edges of the respective sections and adhesively secured thereto. Typically, the splicing paper is adhesively secured along the edge portion of the upper surface of the lower section, while the sections are separated, and then adhesively secured along the respective edge portion of the lower surface of the upper section by bringing the two sections into superposed contacting relation. The thus formed product is then rolled and packaged. When the ultimate user unwraps the package at the situs of installation, the product is unrolled, cut to the desired length, and unfolded preparatory to use. The unfolded product has a width dimension which is double the width of the 3,582,421 Patented June 1, 1971 folded product and is thereby capable of being used to span greater areas.

It will be understood that the size of the fibers used in fabricating the product is determined by the type and control of the forming equipment utilized. Such equipment conventionally employs air, steam, or combustion gases for attenuating molten threads of glass issuing from small orifices. The fibers are collected at the forming station in pack form with an uncured binder component dispersed throughout. A binder composed of a combination of melamine and phenol formaldehyde resins in proportion of roughly one to two, has acceptable strength in fire resistant characteristics. Other fibrous glass bonding agents are well known and would be quite equally effective for use. These may include epoxy, urea, and polyester resins, and run in an amount dependent upon the balance desired between sturdiness and fire protec tion.

Of course, the pack of fibers with the uncured binder dispersed throughout is conventionally caused to be passed through an oven, while under compression between parallel spaced flights of a pair of conveyors. The heat applied within the oven cures or sets the resin binder, and the pack is thus permanently established in its compressed state.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The foregoing features and advantages of the invention, as well as others, will become manifest to those skilled in the art from reading the following detailed description of an embodiment of the invention when considered in the light of the attached drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is an isometric diagrammatic view of a section of a production line capable of carrying out the steps of the invention and producing the fibrous product of the invention; and

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the product of the invention being unrolled from the final package and being cut into desired lengths for use preparatory to the installation thereof.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to the drawings, there is illustrated in FIG. 1 a continuous pack 10 of a bonded fibrous glass material which has been previously compressed between conveyor flights and dimensionally stabilized by the curing of the binder content in an oven (not shown).

With the fibers of the preferred size, it is recommended that the density of the pack be set between one and one quarter, and two and one quarter pounds per cubic foot, and the binder content be present in a proportion of twelve percent by weight. These specifications are satisfactory for relatively thin products intended for acoustical insulation use. The specifications, of course, can vary depending on the ultimate intended use of the product. In the event the material is to be used for thermal, as well as acoustical insulation, the pack 10 may need the extra strengthening provided by increasing the density to as much as four pounds per cubic foot, and the binder content as high as sixteen percent.

As the pack 10 is caused to travel in the direction of the arrow (FIG. 1) over suitable conveyors (not shown),

it is horizontally split in half by a horizontally disposed band saw 12, for example, which turns on a pair of spaced drums 14. The compressed pack delivered to the band saw 12 may have a thickness of two inches, for example, and as being split by the saw 12 into two equal sections 16 and 18 nominally one inch in thickness. A pack three inches thick may be split into two or three sections depending up on the thickness and the desired width of finished product, as will be explained in greater detail hereinafter.

It has been found that in certain instances it is desirable to have each section retain one side or face of the pack 10. The strengthening properties of an original side of the pack, due to the extra binder therein and the ironing effect of the compression under heat, contributes to maintaining the material against sagging when it is suspended in a ceiling installation. Accordingly, whatever the thickness of the pack 10, it has been found advantageous to split the pack once to produce only two sections. In the manufacturing operation, the upper split section 16 of the pack 10 is caused to travel upwardly over a pair of horizontally spaced apart guiding carry-over rollers 20 and 22. The lower section 18 is caused to travel over a conveyor 24. Located downstream of the band saw 12 there is disposed a liquid adhesive applicator head 26 which is connected to an adhesive reservoir 28 through conduits 30 and 32. The conduit 32 may be provided with a fluid flow control valve 34 to meter the flow of liquid adhesive material to the applicator head 26 from the reservoir 28. The applicator head 26 applies a line 35 of adhesive material to the marginal edge portion of the upper surface of the lower section 18.

Downstream of the applicator head 26 is a guide channel 36 adapted to guide a web of folded flexible material 38 which is delivered thereto from a supply roll 40. It has been found that the material 38 can be papers, as well as other flexible sheet materials. The web of folded material 38 is guided in its travel from a supply roll 40 to the guide channel 36 by a pair of spaced apart guiding idler rollers 42 and 44. The guide channel 36 is formed with a slot 46 through which the web of folded material 38 travels and is brought into intimate contact with the line 35 of adhesive material on the upper surface of the lower section 18 of the pack 10. The web of folded material 38 is applied to the lower section 18 in such a fashion that the fold line or folded edge faces outwardly and is adjacent the outer edge of the lower section 18.

Another liquid adhesive applicator head '48 is located downstream of the applicator head 26 and is connected to the reservoir 28 through conduits 50 and 32. The conduit 50 may be provided with a fluid flow control valve 52 to meter the flow of liquid adhesive to the applicator head 48 from the reservoir 28. The applicator head 48 is effective to apply a line 54 of liquid adhesive to the upper surface of the web of folded material 38 which has previously been adhesively secured to the lower section 18. It will be understood that the liquid reservoir 28 is provided with suitable pumping means diagrammatically illustrated in FIG. 1. In the preferred method it has been found desirable to employ a quick drying liquid adhesive, it being understood that other adhesives could be used where the manufacturing techniques permit.

The upper and lower sections 16 and 18, respectively, are caused to be joined by being directed between a press roller 56 and the conveyor 24. The coaction of the conveyor 24 and the press roller 56 effectively forces the marginal edge of the lower surface of the upper section 16 into intimate contact with the adhesive line 54 formed on the upper portion of the web of folded material 38-. In the typical installation, the press roller 56 is vertically adjustable to accommodate material of various thicknesses. Thus, the upper and lower sections of the fibrous material are joined together by the web of folded material 38 to form a finished insulating product which is typically rolled into a package 60, illustrated in FIG. 2. The rolled package 60 may be transported to the user where it is unrolled and cut into the desired lengths by the mechanic performing the installation.

While the above description has made reference to the web of folded material 38 being paper, other flexible materials, such as for example fabric or plastic tape may be satisfactorily employed. Also, the web of folded material could be coated with an adhesive of the pressure sensitive type without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the event it is desired to obtain a wider dimension of the finished product, the pack 10 could be split into multiple sections so long as the alternate adjoining edges are suitably spliced together in a manner such as illustrated and described in respect of FIG. 1.

Where the decorative effect is of major concern, the web of folded material 38 could be made of a Width dimension to span the entire surface formed by splitting the pack 10. In such an instance, the surface containing the folded material would be exposed to the interior of the associated room in which the finished product is being installed. It will be obvious that plastic films such as, for example, polyethylene, plasticized polyvinyl chloride, polyvinylidine chloride, nylon, polycarbonate and polyvinyl fluoride may be utilized in lieu of paper. Such materials could be readily adhered to the fibrous material by adhesive materials which would include elastomeric compositions such as solutions, dispersions, or emulsions of butadiene-styrenes, nitriles, or neoprenes with a fire-resisting component therein. Various other thermoplastic, thermosetting and other elastomeric adhesives may give good service for joining the web of folded material 38 to the split sections of the pack.

It will bemanifest that numerous modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention and no limitation is therefore intended which is not set forth in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A method of forming a foldable product of bonded mineral fibers including the steps of:

directing a pack of bonded mineral fibers along a path;

splitting said pack into at least two sections;

disposing a hinge element of foldable flexible sheet material along cooperating adjacent longitudinal edges of said sections; and

adhesively securing the hinge element to the respective longitudinal edges of said sections.

2. A method of forming a foldable product of bonded mineral fibers including the steps of:

directing a pack of bonded mineral fibers along a path;

splitting said pack into at least two sections;

separating said sections;

disposing a hinge element of foldable flexible sheet material along one of the respective longitudinal edges of one of said sections;

adhesively securing said hinge element to said section; A

and

adhesively securing the cooperating longitudinal edge of the other of said sections to said hinge element.

3. A method of forming a foldable product of bonded mineral fibers including the steps of:

flowing streams of molten glass from a source;

collecting said stream in a randomly arrayed mass of fibers to form a pack;

directing said pack of fibers along a path;

splitting said pack into at least two sections;

disposing a hinge element of foldable flexible sheet material along cooperating adjacent longitudinal edges of said sections;

adhesively securing the hinge element to the respective longitudinal edges of said sections; and

rolling said hinged sections into a rolled package.

6 4. A method of forming a foldable product of bonded References Gited mineral fibers including the steps of:

directing a pack of bonded mineral fibers along a path; UNITED STATES PATENTS splitting said pack into at least two sections; 3,012,923 12/1961 Slayter 156'26t4X Separating Said sections; 5 3,092,203 6/1963 Slayter et a]. 1'56254X 2,641,484 6/1953 Brody 156216UX disposing a hinge element of foldable flexible sheet material along one of the respective longitudinal edges of one of said Sections; PHILIP DIER, Primary Examiner adhesively securing said hinge element to said section; U S C1 X R adhesively securing the cooperating longitudinal edge 10 of the other of said sections to said hinge element; 156-216, 266; 161-36, 49, 149 and rolling said hinged sections into a rolled package. 

